~ firearms and fermentation

Monthly Archives: February 2014

Last year an inattentive mom and gun owner with a CHP was in Staples and her two-year old was playing inside her purse. When the mom realized her firearm was in the purse she pulled the tots hand out of the purse and discharged her firearm in the process. She was not charged in the incident.

Recently a group called Moms Demand Action decided to protest outside the Staples in Wake Forest, NC. In total six women came and two babies in strollers. It was quite a gathering according to The Wake Weekly, “The situation was monitored by four police vehicles and the eight attendees (including the little tikes) were all well covered by the media with two television crews and a print outlet.” Now because it’s television news they never show the group and only interview a single mom of the six adults who came. The reality is they were not allowed to protest on the property and the police ensured they kept their distance. Staples does a decent business, but they would have had a much larger audience taking the fight next door to PetSmart. Anyway, here is the video.

There have been efforts underway in the form of a petition to get Staples to not allow firearms in the store, but thus far only 11,000 people nationwide have signed the petition. Since Staples has more than 2,000 locations that means there are about six people per location who are passionate about not allowing legally concealed firearms into Staples. Remind me again how many people showed up to the protest…

Lately it appears something has been running around Facebook where a person has received a challenge from someone else to chug a pint of beer and then after completion challenges three others to accomplish the same task. I heard something similar overseas, but they were having to do a stunt with the challenge, this seems much more benign. I’ve seen people recently downing anything from pale ale to a Bourbon stout. I remember back in the day we would race and chug beers, as an adult it really doesn’t have that much appeal. Since this is only a single pint of beer, I suppose of the drinker’s choosing, then I see no problem with the chug challenge. With my luck the camera would malfunction and I would have to do it more than once. Ok, if I must. 😉

I came across a post the other day indicating a boy had purchased a firearm on Facebook. That made me wonder if it was true, and of course it was not. What was true is a Ohio man listed a firearm for sale on a Facebook page as a classified ad. A 15-year-old from Kentucky contacted the Ohio man and they met in Kentucky on October 3. On October 11 the teen took the gun to the school football game because he, “just wanted to look cool.”

So let’s go over what is wrong here:
-minors cannot own or posses pistols
-guns cannot be sold across state lines (exception would be dealer to dealer (FFL) transfers)
-in most states firearms cannot be taken to school by unlicensed individuals

So who is at fault? The post I saw indicated Facebook. Now I don’t believe that for a minute. They provided an online community and two individuals took it upon themselves to commit a crime. Here’s why I don’t have a problem, had the buyer been of age and in Ohio they could have legally transferred the firearm so long as they followed the rest of Ohio law. I see no blame to be put on Facebook.

First the blame lands on the man who sold the gun. He was from Ohio and should know he can only sell it to someone from Ohio. His second crime was selling it to someone who could not legally own the firearm. I’m assuming the KY and OH laws are similar to the NC law for a long gun. In order to legally sell the firearm to another party they must be a resident of your state, be legally able to own the firearm, and you must have no reason to believe they cannot own the firearm. IMO the Ohio man broke all three of those rules. The teen was from another state, he was too young to own a firearm, and I would suggest just looking at the teen it would be clear he was too young.

Next the blame lands on the teen and his parents, yes, the parents. The teen should be intelligent enough to know he cannot bring a gun to school. Of course had he never illegally purchased the firearm he would not have had it to begin with. I can believe the teen would not know firearm laws, but he should know he was too young to own the firearm. He should definitely know it was wrong to take it to the school football game to show it off.

So what should happen? The Ohio man has been charged and I believe that is the right move. He will get his day in court, but selling out-of-state and to a minor should earn him a nice corner cell somewhere. After he serves his time and pays his fine he should see probation for several years as well. As far as the teen and parents they should be charged as the law allows. IIRC In NC the parents would get a misdemeanor and the kid would certainly be suspended/expelled. I’d put that teen on probation for the next 3 years and would probably include some verbiage about not handling firearms without a parent present.

What will happen? The Ohio man will plead down and get a fine and probation. Of course we haven’t even discussed what Federal officials might do. They may decide to make an example out of the man, and I believe they should to some degree. If they do, he may have ruined his life. The teen and his parents will not have anything happen other than he will have a juvenile record. He was charged, but of course those charges are confidential since he is a juvenile.

The news broke over the weekend that Piers Morgan Live is being cancelled by CNN due to a floundering audience. They have not yet decided the date of the final show, but stick a fork in it, it’s done! Morgan has been a tirade regarding gun control for the past 15 months or more. He has become a bully during interviews and asks guests questions and then does not allow them to answer or dismisses correct statements entirely. What Morgan fails to realize is he is a guest in our country. He cannot vote, in fact he has no right to free speech since he is not a US Citizen. I guess it could be argued CNN has a right to freedom of the press and chooses to use Morgan to express that right, but Morgan is really in the country as a legal alien on a work visa. So in the end Morgan didn’t catch the clue people were not smelling what he was cooking and his show will bite the dust soon. Hopefully as a result Morgan will decide to go back across the pond to stay.

As I was perusing a liquor store in another state I spied a bottle of Woodford Reserve Double Oaked peeking off the end of the shelf. The stores in this state generally have a cash price and a credit price which is two to three percent higher. On this particular shelf tag the cash price was $49.99 and the credit was $49.91. Needless to say I paid with a credit card and saved eight cents.

Last night I decided to see what Woodford Double Oaked was all about. Anyone who has read the blog realizes Woodford is not a favorite of mine. I have a friend who thought quite a bit of the Double Oaked so I was holding out hope this was 50 beans well spent. The aroma on the Bourbon was darn nice with a strong presence of oak as well as a boozy character. The flavor is, well, Woodford Reserve with more oak. It’s boozy and alcoholic with that same acidity I find unpleasant in the standard version. For me it just isn’t a home run. I do like it better than the standard version, but did not find it worth the price of admission. Unless you are a Woodford fan I suggest you pass this one up realizing it’s good, but it ain’t $50 good. I don’t mind spending half that sum and finding out a bottle wasn’t my cup of tea, but I could buy two bottles of Bourbon I appreciate much more for what this oaky mess cost. Yeah, in case you cannot tell, I’m a little bitter. At least I have more Bourbon to put in the Old Fashioned Ginger. 😉

Yep, it’s another day to celebrate a drink today and that drink is the Margarita. I can see it’s creation right now. “Please bring us some more of that refreshing lime drink, but put some salt on the rim and some tequilla in with it, ok Margarita.” At any rate, have one, heck, have two and celebrate! 😉

I recently saw someone suggest a waiting period for firearms sales to stop mass shootings and it left me scratching my head. The only thing I can come up with as to why they could think a waiting period was a good idea would be a cooling off period to stop a crime of passion. While it is true there have been legal purchases by people who eventually caused chaos and mayhem, they did not commit their crimes within in days of purchasing the firearm. What the person suggested was a three-day waiting period and here is why that is a bad idea, especially in North Carolina.

Let’s get crazy and decide to commit a crime and want a pistol. So you run to the store to buy the pistol and after handling the firearms you are told you need a Pistol Purchase Permit. Now the permit is a NC rule which does not exist in other states. In other states you will have a NICS check which can take from a few minutes to a few hours. In NC you run to the Sheriff’s Department and fill out the forms for the PPP and have it in all counties within 14 days. Hold up a second, 14 days? Why have a three-day waiting period when you have already waited two weeks? Don’t you think the guy wanting to do harm will find another means?

Now take a look at long guns. They are a little different and the NICS check is all that is required in NC. I suppose the person who suggested the waiting period was talking about a long gun. In this case we could go crazy, go to the gun store, pick out a rifle or shotgun, go through the NICS check, and be out the door and ready to do damage. I’ve posted it before, long guns are rarely used in homicides, on average about 375 times as compared to hammers at 584 times. Based on those numbers we should have a waiting period to buy a hammer. Circle back to the first paragraph and list every mass shooting which occurred immediately within hours or a day after the firearm was purchased. It just doesn’t happen. If someone is intent on immediately doing harm they are not going to legally purchase the firearm, they will find other means to procure the pistol, rifle, or shotgun.

In a nutshell a waiting period is a bad idea because it will not have any impact on crime. Criminals will continue to be criminals and law-abiding citizens will continue to be law-abiding citizens. I’m not sure why some people believe criminals will ever care about the law, new flash, they are criminals and by nature are law breakers.

Please note I did not talk about a CHP because presumably the person already has a gun, has been fingerprinted, subjected to a full background check, and would not need any waiting period because they already waited over 45 days for the CHP.

Some time back I spotted a bottle of W.L. Weller Antique 107 on the shelf at a local ABC store. I was not very familiar with this beast and the reviews online were difficult to find for some reason so with a $23 price point I figured I didn’t have too much to lose. Turns out the brands is part of the Buffalo Trace Distillery and that may explain why it wasn’t too shabby. Unfortunately I should have honed in on the 107 as being the proof. The flavor on this one is quite tasty, but the alcohol burn is just not my cup of tea. So for flavor this gets high marks, for alcohol restraint it doesn’t make the grade. No worried, I have a solution for that. Now if you are a fan of Booker’s, this would be something you would really enjoy. I find the alcohol in Booker’s to be off-putting, whereas the alcohol in Antique is more mildly annoying.

Weller has two other bottles in their lineup. I’ll have to give Special Reserve and 12 Year a whirl when I run into them. Truthfully I’ve not found much out of the Buffalo Trace Distillery I don’t like, so I’m not opposed to giving something they produce a chance at greatness. If you see a bottle of Antique, don’t be afraid, it’s a bit hot, but worth the price of admission.

National Drink Wine Day was unfortunately yesterday, February 18. As with all days made up for consuming alcoholic beverages, I missed it on the calendar. I think of these days as being similar to drinking games. They are fun, but unnecessary. Anyway, since I missed it yesterday I may pretend today is National Drink Wine Day and celebrate just a little late. Maybe it’s time to actually create a calendar of events to remind me to have this drink or that beer or some other spirit so I can hang out with the cool kids. Nahh, I’ll just drink whatever I’m in the mood for and raise my glass those who are celebrating their made up day! 😉